Secret Doorways

Secret Doorways

collage, 5 1/2 x 5 1/4

You must not for one instant give up the effort to build new lives for yourselves. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. Daisaku Ikeda
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/doorway.html

You must not for one instant give up the effort to build new lives for yourselves. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. Daisaku Ikeda
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/doorway.html

You must not for one instant give up the effort to build new lives for yourselves. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. Daisaku Ikeda
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/doorway.html

You must not for one instant give up the effort to build new lives for yourselves. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. Daisaku Ikeda
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/doorway.html

“She had always lived her best life in dreams. She knew no greater pleasure than that moment of passage into the other place, when her limbs grew warm and heavy and the sparkling darkness behind her lids became ordered and doors opened; when conscious thought grew owl's wings and talons and became other than conscious.”
~ John Crowley, Little, Big


Doors pop up in my artwork pretty often. As you are no doubt aware, doors and doorways have always been imbued with symbolic meanings, going back to the very beginnings of literature, including the Bible.

 Doors, gateways, or thresholds often symbolize transitions, transformation, passage from one type of reality to another (Dorothy opens the door of her house and steps into a completely different world.), from reality to non-reality, or from being awake to sleeping, and vice versa. They may also stand for entrance or exit, communication, initiation, or opportunity.

 If closed, they can represent mystery, boundaries, and barriers (Will the gates of the Emerald City be opened? At first Dorothy and her friends are told to "go away!")

Often it is the task of the hero of the story to pass through a door or gateway in order to complete their quest (Can Dorothy escape from the room where the Wicked Witch has her imprisoned?).

 When the character in a story stands before a door, they must make a critical choice, to enter/exit or not. Frequently, this is an important turning point which moves the story forward. 

Our everyday speech is full of idioms about doors:

"Off your hinges? You make a better door than a window? Katy, bar the doors! ... we don’t want her shadow to darken the door.

There are so many door idioms. We beat paths to doors, get a foot in the door, see someone to the door, close one door only to have another open, and think fondly of the girl next door." (sloWalker - red Ravine: walk to the bottom)

“There's a difference between fear and paralysis. And I've learned that I don't have to "grow up" to be open to opportunity, to be willing to step through doors without being pushed. I just have to be brave. I just have to be slightly braver than I am scared.”
~ Victoria Schwab

Transformation 45

I haven't done any pieces for my long-ongoing "Transformations" series in quite a long while, but was recently inspired to add to it.

Transformation 45

My "Transformations" series is strongly rooted in my deep feelings about the magic of nature, and when I look for words about nature, I often look to one of my heroes and favorite writers, Wendell Berry. I leave you here with some of his wisdom.



“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”



“It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”



“So, friends, every day do something that won't compute...Give your approval to all you cannot understand...Ask the questions that have no answers. Put your faith in two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years...Laugh. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts....Practice resurrection.”

Weekly Quick Collage: Imaginary Landscape

Imaginary Landscape         5 x 5 inches

This one is very different from the weekly collages I've done so far; in both style and materials, it's much more like the pieces in my long-onging series called Transformations. These are loosely landscape-based collages I make from scraps of old monotypes, all 7 x 7 inches.

Hope you enjoy it!

Some Thoughts on Change

My last post was about the new year, the challenge of change, and how frightening it can be.  In regards to that, here are some thoughts by people who express themselves far better than I.  To accompany them I've chosen some photos I took at fall's end, when the earth speaks of the past, the changes under way, and whispers hints of the future...

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year.  It is that we should have a new soul.  -G. K. Chesterton 

It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear...It's like being between trapezes.  It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer.  There's nothing to hold on to.  -Marilyn Ferguson

 The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.  -Charles DuBois

Every great dream begins with a dreamer.  Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.  -Harriet Tubman

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.  -Anais Nin

 
I wanted to change the world.  But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.  -Aldous Huxley

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.  But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.  There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.  -Alan Cohen

New Year

I'm kind of late on this one, but I had a screw loose, as Whitney pointed out.  I can't say they're any tighter now, but the one on the computer is okay...

You might notice that I left the "Happy" out of the traditional New Year greeting.  Not that I don't want it to be a happy one; I do indeed hope it will be happy, for all of us.  But what I'm really hoping is that it will be new.  Different.  A fresh start; out of that same old rut many of us have been stuck in.  What we need is change.

All around me, I see people facing big, scary changes, the kind no one wants to confront.  So many friends are facing illness, loss of jobs or income, loss of their homes.  These can cause other losses.  We lose self confidence, direction, sense of purpose.  We are lost. 

We wonder, What next?

Believe it or not, this state of uncertainty, of feeling as if the rug has been pulled out from under you, of being totally lost, is a magical place to be.  It is the crossroads, the "between",  the place of potential and new beginnings.  From this point, all things are possible.  According to spiritual principles, only when something is taken away can something new be brought in; a psychic "space" must be cleared in order to bring in new energy.  

Symbolically, there can be no rebirth without going through the death phase.  A shaman receives his/her power by going through a transformation which usually involves a severe illness, an inner experience of being torn apart and put back together in a new and different form.  It is painful; it feels like you will not survive.

In "When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times", Pema Chodron writes that she had a sign on her wall which read, "Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us."  She goes on to say, "Nevertheless, when the bottom falls out and we can't find anything to grasp, it hurts a lot...  When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something."

My daughter used to say that without the darkness, we wouldn't see the stars.  May each of us see our own stars. 

Transformation 40, and a Cup of Tea

Oh boy, this is exciting!  
Not only did I complete my 40th Transformation piece, but I also discovered (DUH!) that there is apparently a new editing system on blogger, where you can actually change the colors and fonts and all sorts of stuff!  It's like getting a new toy! 

I don't know why I never noticed this; I guess it was because I never had a reason to go into the settings before.  Wow, I hope you all won't get sick of me changing everything all the time.
 Obviously, it doesn't take much to amuse me, does it?

Now that I've calmed down a bit, and you've finished laughing at me, I can get back to the subject, which was... oh yeah, Transformation 40.  I'm not sure why it's more important than 39 or 41, but for some reason we  take special note of the numbers ending in 0.  It seems like a milestone though, to me.  I'll have to investigate why that is; I'll put on my "to do" list right under number 3,402.

Now I must, as my friend Whitney says, go and have a cup of tea to recover!

Transformation 39

Number 39 and counting! I hope a picture really is worth a thousand words, because I don't know what else to say. I've been busy getting ready for the Capacity Inc. decorator showcase; I will be taking 10 framed pieces of work to Lexington on Friday. My wonderful daughter came over yesterday to help me frame them, and I don't know how I would have done it without her help. Have I mentioned how much I hate framing? I think I have, and now poor Caitlin is starting to understand why! I hope you enjoy this one!

Capacity Inc. and Lorillard Lofts- Please Stop By to Help a Good Cause!

Some of you may be aware that my work will be featured in the Lorillard Decorator Showcase in Lexington, Kentucky beginning on October 23rd. Nine of my Transformations pieces (some of which appear on this post) will be hung in the 'Urban Sanctuary' loft; all of these will be for sale, and another one will be sold in the silent auction. This is a wonderful project which benefits Capacity Inc., a non-profit organization working toward improving the lives of women with regard to employment. The following article by Sherry Piersol explains:

Upon visiting Lexington, Kentucky’s first eco-friendly decorators showcase one will have an opportunity to reconnect with self, home and the community. “Naturally Chic” will focus on creating comfortable, stylish, elegant and creative loft living, naturally! This is a great opportunity to obtain eco-friendly, affordable, new trend insight for anyone’s home. Most importantly the $10.00 ticket per person goes to a great cause!
“Naturally Chic” is a result of a new international non profit dedicated to the advancement of women, Capacity Inc, www.capacityinc.org.
We began with two goals, first to introduce the community to examples of environmentally friendly, urban development and décor. Lorillard Lofts was selected because living spaces were created from the renovation of an old tobacco warehouse, see www.coolspaces.com.



Second, Capacity Inc. is a cutting edge organization which advocates transforming women of today into women of tomorrow. Our current fundraiser is dedicated to Career Advancement for Women. According to Sherry Piersol, founding board member, “This will include; mentoring, skill sets assessments, education and employment for unemployed women. The Lorillard Lofts Decorator Showcase will also serve as a model for other cities worldwide.”



The mission of Capacity Inc. is to provide capacity building opportunities for children, girls and women worldwide. Our goal is to create a deep culture change that will solve specific problems facing the female gender. Jessica Piersol is the board secretary and an Anthropology student. “I have learned about the disparity of the world and am shocked to discover that the single most abused, poverty-stricken, neglected and inhumanely treated group of people remains to be women. The gender crosses ethnicities, state boundaries and continents as a suppressed commodity. As a woman I can no longer stand by and do nothing to impact this world in a positive way. I know that I am not alone in the emergence of an insatiable desire to make a difference. My friends, ages 18 to 28 have expressed reciprocal feelings. We do not want to be ‘Generation Y,’ the generation of video games and apathy. We want change; we want a better world for our future and our children.”



Audra Cryder, Capacity Inc. board treasurer is an International Student recruiter at the University of Kentucky. Through her travels she has gained first hand knowledge regarding the inequities facing the female gender worldwide. “Education and training programs can equip women with skills they need to improve their capacities to start and grow businesses and to fulfill their potential as economic development agents. This, in turn, can generate social and economic benefits for women, their families and society as a whole.”
Our mission can best be described as “social franchising”. We all know how quickly successful business franchises grow and expand to offer their services throughout communities globally. What if successful social practices were replicated worldwide as quickly as fast food franchises? Our goal is to take the need to help others and fuse it with networks of people who can put real change into people’s lives. The change of empowering women and their children will make our Lexington community thrive and spread throughout Kentucky, then all across America and eventually the world.



At the very top of our agenda is addressing the need to reform the work culture in the United States. We continue to identify the need to be healthier, to be environmentally conscious, continue our education, focus on the family and volunteer to help others. However, quite often we fail to go straight to the source to address why we are not able to accomplish the above. Capacity Inc. found that woman more than anyone, want everyone to have “the time” to; shop and cook economically, to exercise (be more active) become healthier, more educated and focus on self, family, community and the environment. As a community developer, Sherry Piersol believes the solution lies within each employer’s efforts to become creative, flexible, sensitive and socially responsible to their employees. “Our organization has identified the best work/life balanced programs in the world and are making ourselves available to employers to assist them in investing in all their stakeholders; employees, customers and the community. Employers will improve their bottom line by reinventing their human capital and creating “balanced beings”. Meeting the needs of employees/individuals through holistic and progressive work/life initiatives creates productive, happy and healthy human beings.



“Naturally Chic” Decorator Showcase Lorillard Lofts are located at 201 Price Rd. Lexington KY. Plenty of Free Parking on site. October 20th - 25th, 2009
Purchase tickets online at www.capacityinc.org and go to Events


General Admission: October 24th and 25th 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM Sat and Sun
$10.00 per person Specialty gift shop & food vendors on location this weekend.
Group Tours October 20 - October 22nd 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Discounts available.
Premier Party Special Event – October 23rd, Friday 6:00 – 10:00 PM
Special guest appearance TBA, bids on décor/furniture, food, drink, music and dancing.
$50.00 per person
VENDOR BOOTHS STILL AVAILABLE – specialty stores, home décor, businesses & artists, $100.00 for two days weekend of Oct. 24 and 25th. REGISTER ON LINE.

CONTACT: Sherry (859) 583 – 8007 or sherry.piersol@capacityinc.org

Transformation 38

38 and counting. I'm not too sure about this one, which was actually made before #37. I held off calling it "finished" because I was hoping I'd think of a way to make it better. Nothing occurred. If you have any ideas, let me know; I never hesitate to tear something apart and start over. Recycling or re-recycling- it's all good.

Transformation 37

Well, I've just completed the 37th piece in this ongoing series. In an earlier post, I described how the Transformations series came about as an accidental act of desperation. Ironically, these pieces are what's selling right now, which keeps me making more- and now even more. The Promenade Gallery in Berea, Kentucky has been having quite a run on them this summer.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was contacted by an interior designer who wants to use 9 of them for a Decorators Showcase project in Lexington, KY, and another for a silent auction benefiting Capacity Inc., an organization that helps impoverished girls/women prepare for employment. I'm extremely fortunate to have this opportunity; it's exciting, but a little scary, too. Having a demanding day job makes it a little difficult to keep up with everything, but I'm sure going to give it a heck of a try!

Here is an article about the event, written by Sherry Piersol for Natural Awakenings Magazine. They still need artists and vendors to set up booths, if you're interested.

Capacity Inc. & Lorillard Lofts Presents:
“Naturally Chic” Decorators Showcase

Upon visiting Lexington, Kentucky’s first eco-friendly interior decorators showcase one will have an opportunity to reconnect with self, home and the community. “Naturally Chic” will focus on creating comfortable, stylish, elegant and creative loft living, naturally! This is a great opportunity to obtain eco-friendly, affordable, new trend insight for anyone’s home. Most importantly the $10.00 ticket per person goes to a great cause.
The decorator showcase is a result or our desire to obtain employment for the unemployed women in the community. This project is a fundraiser for Capacity Inc. an international non profit dedicated to the advancement of women, www.capacityinc.org. The Lorillard Lofts Decorator Showcase will serve as a model for other cities worldwide.
We began with two goals, first to introduce the community to examples of environmentally friendly, urban development and décor. Lorillard Lofts was selected because fabulous living spaces were created from the renovation of an old tobacco warehouse, see coolspaces.com.
Second, Capacity Inc. is a cutting edge organization which advocates transforming women of today into women of tomorrow. Thus, the decorator showcase and the career advancement initiative is a project about transformation.
“Naturally Chic” is about looking at yourself and how you can make a difference in creating a healthy environment at home, speak out about the future of our community from a conservative, historical and humanitarian point of view and make a difference in the lives of women.
How do we begin? The first step is to attend the Lorillard Lofts “Naturally Chic” Decorators showcase and experience first hand natural, beautiful living styles for your home. Ask me about becoming involved in the Career Advancement Initiative for Unemployed Women. By attending any of the events below you will benefit from a wonderful experience and your ticket purchase will change the lives of the women in your community for the better!
Capacity Inc. and Lorillard Loft “Naturally Chic” Decorator Showcase Dates:
Tickets may be purchased through pay pal at www.capacityinc.com or visit the site and see a list of local businesses selling tickets.
Group Tours October 16 through October 22nd 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Minimum of 10 participants (2 free tickets) $100.00 per 12
Premier Party Special Event – October 23rd, Friday 6:00 – 10:00 PM
Special guest appearance, first bids on décor items, food, drink, music and dancing.
$50.00 per person
General Admission: October 24th and 25th 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM Sat and Sun
$10.00 per person Specialty gift shop & food vendors on location this weekend also.

We are in need of sponsors and vendors. Please call Sherry at (859) 583-8007

All lofts and decor are for sale!

Cool Water

I find myself becoming increasingly more fascinated by water, photographing it over and over again. Constantly changing in endless permutations- visually, it never disappoints. It appears to play some age-old game with light, one that only they understand. It can be a mirror, reflecting the colors and forms around it, while keeping its own secrets hidden beneath. It can stay absolutely still, or become a rushing, raging torrent against which nothing can stand. It can be life-giving relief and sustenance, but just as swiftly take life and wash it away as if were nothing.

It seems a mystery to me- something that's so common, and so necessary for life, but is really quite unique. We take water for granted, most of us wasting it without much thought. Yet we can live only a week or so without it; we can go a month or more without food. Our bodies are 60- 70% water. While approximately 75% of the earth's surface is covered with water, 97% of that is salt water, and 2% is frozen in the polar ice caps, which means about 1% is drinkable. It's the only substance that occurs naturally in all of matter's three forms: solid, liquid, and gas. Somehow, the scientific facts don't begin to capture the truth of it, or what it means to us human beings on this planet.

Since the beginning of recorded history, water has been important symbolically as well as physically. According to Avia Veneficia of What's-Your-Sign.com:

The symbolism of water has a universal undertone of purity and fertility. Symbolically, it is often viewed as the source of life itself as we see evidence in countless creation myths in which life emerges from primordial waters.

Interestingly, we are all made of water, and so we can liken many of these myths and allegories to our own existence (the macrocosm mirroring the microcosm and vice versa). Further, we can incorporate symbolism of circulation, life, cohesion and birth by associating the creative waters of the earth with the fluids found in our own body (i.e., blood).

In Taoist tradition, water is considered an aspect of wisdom. The concept here is that water takes on the form in which it is held and moves in the path of least resistance. Here the symbolic meaning of water speaks of a higher wisdom we may all aspire to mimic.

The ever-observant ancient Greeks understood the power of transition water holds. From liquid, to solid, to vapor - water is the epitomal symbol for metamorphosis and philosophical recycling.

Among the first peoples of North America, water was considered a valuable commodity (particularly in the more arid plains and western regions) and the Native Americans considered water to be a symbol of life (further solidifying the symbol affixed in many creation myths).

So it is also with the ancient Egyptians as we learn their beloved (and heavily relied upon) Nile river is akin to the birth canal of their existence.

A quick list of symbolic meanings for water include (but are not limited to):

* Transformation
* Subconscious
* Fertilization
* Purification
* Reflection
* Intuition
* Renewal
* Blessing
* Motion
* Life

And from Pure Inside Out:
The holy books of the Hindus explain that all the inhabitants of the earth emerged from the primordial sea. At the beginning of the Judeo-Christian story of creation, the spirit of God is described as "stirring above the waters," and later, God creates "a firmament in the midst of the waters to divide the waters" (Genesis 1:1-6)

Finally, I'll leave you with the words of one of my personal heroes, and a great Kentuckian:

Water
by Wendell Berry

I was born in a drouth year. That summer
my mother waited in the house, enclosed
in the sun and the dry ceaseless wind,
for the men to come back in the evenings,
bringing water from a distant spring.
veins of leaves ran dry, roots shrank.
And all my life I have dreaded the return
of that year, sure that it still is
somewhere, like a dead enemys soul.
Fear of dust in my mouth is always with me,
and I am the faithful husband of the rain,
I love the water of wells and springs
and the taste of roofs in the water of cisterns.
I am a dry man whose thirst is praise
of clouds, and whose mind is something of a cup.
My sweetness is to wake in the night
after days of dry heat, hearing the rain.

Transformation 36

I can't believe I've done 36 of these! It really doesn't seem possible (somewhat like the fact that it's already August). Some have been scrapped, some sold, some are at the gallery, and some still sit in the portfolio in my studio. The strange part is that the series came about entirely by accident. When I was in the Master's degree program at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, we were given a horrifying (to me, at least) assignment. At the end of the week, we were told we had to make 50 pieces by Monday. FIFTY!! This was inconceivable to me. Me, the super-perfectionist, think-about-it-for-a-million-years-before-starting, self-questioning, mind-changing, oh-my-god-i-can't-do-it- ME?

I was freaking out. Perhaps I misunderstood, or my hearing was going bad. But, no. Obviously, the instructors weren't serious, right? They were.

I had no idea where to start, but I thought, there has to a way to cheat...or- something. After all, necessity- and 430 dollars a credit hour- are the mothers of invention. I looked at the discarded work laying around the studio- the ones that didn't quite work out, and said, "Why not?" I started cutting them into pieces and gluing them together. It seemed a lot easier than starting from scratch. I don't remember how or why I came up with the 7x7 inch format, but for some reason I made them all that size. I worked all weekend, every minute, without stopping. I got my children to help me. Whatever, just so they were done.

Finally, I had 50 pieces. Granted, some of them looked like pieces of dog poo, but there were a few that were actually not too bad. Oddly enough, my instructors didn't hate them completely. I kept some of them. Then, I began to make more. Eventually, they became a series; now people even buy them! Who'd a thunk?

There must have been a point to all this- what was it? Oh, yeah... my point was... well, you just never know, do you? Also, thanks, Kim and Paige. I guess that 430 dollars per credit hour wasn't a total waste, was it?

Transformation 35

I finally finished this piece that I had started before I left for vacation. It's been a little strange transitioning back to "real life"; I just can't get the Rocky Mountains out of my head. I'm working on some other pieces, though, that I'll be posting soon.

Transformation 18 (state II): recycling

I'm doing some more of these small pieces, since they're what the gallery's selling right now. This is an old piece that I wasn't happy with; it had been put in the "scrap" pile. Sometimes old throwaways can spark new ideas. So I re-worked it, adding more things, subtracting others. These collage pieces are a great way to recycle things that don't work out, giving them a new "life". I've found that the oddest little bits of things can come in handy later on- you just never know. Of course, this does nothing at all for the organizational state of my studio!